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Friendship is Witchcraft
Friendship is Witchcraft is a series of videos overlaying scenes from with new dialogue. While technically an abridged series, the writers have stated that they stray so far away from the show's original story and characters that they prefer to consider it a glimpse into "a bizarro universe version of Friendship is Magic"Celestia Radio interview, part 1 airing on an alternate universe version of The Hub.Celestia Radio interview, part 5 All of the episodes to date contain an original musical number, and have been written by "Sherclop Pones", a collective name for Jenny Nicholson and Griffin Lewis. Both also perform a majority of the voices. As of January 16, 2013, some of the episodes are blocked on YouTube, when accessed from the United States. Sherclop Pones later went into more detail, stating that their first Fair Use disputes were all rejected on that date, and that they have refiled a second. They also mentioned that if these disputes were rejected, then the videos would be deleted from YouTube; but in the meantime, episodes 2 and 7 are still watchable in the US, and re-iterated that the blockage of viewing on the other episodes only affects the US audience. Additionally, they mentioned a possible move to Vimeo. The episodes are also available on DailyMotion. While the series has received mostly positive reviews from viewers, it has also received negative feedback from others. VoiceOfReason, a fan of parody, has panned FiW, comparing it to the works of film directing duo Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg. He also criticized its "unfunny and repetitive" jokes, lack of character introduction (by starting in the middle of Season 1, at which point the main characters have already been established), lazy editing, and long length (to the point of being nearly as long as an episode from the actual show) among others. Episodes Characters Songs Cult of Smooze The Cult of Smooze is a religious organization that worships Smooze (sometimes referred to as Lord Smooze), a supernatural omnipotent being who secretes ooze and is definitely larger than a bowl of toast. Smooze In the 1986 film My Little Pony: The Movie, "The Smooze" is a sentient unstoppable purple ooze that buries and destroys everything in its path. It makes anyone who is splashed by it grumpy and woeful. It was created by an evil witch named Hydia. He is killed at the end of the movie via being sealed inside a volcano. In the main Friendship is Magic ''series, the Smooze only appears for one episode as Discord's friend, and it is green in color. The ''Friendship is Witchcraft Smooze seems to also be composed, at least partially, of ooze. He also has destructive power. At one point he lived in the pony world but is now absent. His imminent return will bring about the end of the world. According to cultist lore, an earthquake will bring about the "Smoozepocalyse" by creating a "Smoozenami" that will engulf the entire world in Smooze's ooze. Smooze's followers will then have their souls saved in a rapture. These events will occur as soon as they manage to resurrect him. Up until this point in the series. The Smooze in the original movie and the one referenced in Friendship is Witchcraft are seemingly interchangeable and are possibly the same. Organization Ponyville hosts a chapter of the cult and a conversion spa. The local cult leader is Fluttershy. There are at least 5 other members, including (as of episode #2) Rarity and Twilight. Cult members greet each other with "praise Smooze!" and sometimes exclaim "thank Smooze" as an expression of relief. Their primary plan of action, in terms of resurrecting him, is to build a shrine in his name (which requires an offering of a dead and tenderized raccoon) and perform a ritual during an eclipse. Cult members are apparently required to donate at least 20% of their earnings to the cult. Fluttershy appears to also look for alternative methods of resurrecting Smooze. For instance in the episode Neigh, Soul Sister Fluttershy appears to express great interest in news of Pinkie Pie's portal; then later in the episode Lunar Slander, she is heard saying the line "If Pinkie can do it, so can I" in reference to Pinkie Pie's own resurrection techniques. Conversion spas Fluttershy operates a conversion spa in Ponyville. The chief purpose of conversion spas is to convert ponies to the cult through relaxing and addictive services. The conversion spa depicted in Friendship is Witchcraft does not seem to serve as a meeting place or house of worship. Services offered include saunas, Smooze Goo treatments, and elmers baths. It is said to be common to take part in all three during a visit. Another take on the matter may be that indulging in saunas and spa treatment is the cult's idea of divine intervention. Smooze Goo is turquoise in appearance and similar in consistency to facial crème. It contains an addictive chemical that causes those exposed to it to experience withdrawal syndromes, including anxiety and akathisia. The addictive nature of Smooze Goo is a crucial part of the cult, because it keeps ponies coming back for more. This is all derived from one line of dialog spoken by Rarity: "I simply can't get enough of this Smooze Goo! When I don't get my weekly fix, I start to get anxious and shaky!" — all the while Fluttershy only gets small drops of it on her cheeks and smiles gleefully. Elmers baths are similar in appearance and consistency to mud; they are a reference to the real-world Elmers glue. The War The War is a war said to have ended 10 years prior to the start of the series. It is mentioned often between Applejack and Rarity; Rarity frequently insists Applejack has committed war crimes. The belligerents are unknown, but Applejack and Rarity seem to have fought on the same side, and Ponyville was part of the theater. The war seems have been been fought chiefly with trench warfare. References are made to life in the trenches and Rarity becomes inconsolable when Sweetie Belle play-acts a mortar attack with her. There may have also been some instances of guerrilla warfare, as "burning villages" is mentioned by Applejack. At one point during the war, Applejack drove a stampede into a school house in order to save the Apple Family. Rarity still brings this up and insists Applejack's actions were criminal. Despite this, Applejack (according to Apple Bloom) is the highest-ranking officer in Ponyville and has at least five medals received for her war deeds which shows that her command thought otherwise. Rarity was removed from the front lines due to an injury or series of injuries she sustained. It is not known whether they were caused directly by the enemy or by some sort of action of Rarity's part, but Rarity's description as "stylish injury" point to the latter cause. Applejack thus regards Rarity as a deserter. Robots In Friendship is Witchcraft, robots are mechanical beings oblivious to their true identity. Robots cannot feel emotion, though may be programmed to express it. Robots are not to be confused with cyborgs, which, unlike robots, have souls. Because they are built and programmed to look and act like ponies, it can be nearly impossible to notice a robot without paying attention to its obviously electronic voice and strange speech patterns. They are composed of mechanical workings underneath synthetic skin and have a small antenna that is normally hidden under their mane. Their eyes are red, a feature that sometimes shows through under their synthetic pony eyes. According to Cheerilee in episode 4, if a robot learned about its true identity, it would probably go on an existential rampage, destroying many sentient ponies in its path. They are thought to grow drastically in size during these episodes. Due to this risk, ponies are encouraged to report known robots to the robot police so they can be destroyed, and their existence is an area of study in Ponyville schools. The robot police are a task force that seek and destroy robots. They listen in on conversation in an effort to detect robotic behavior. Two of their main tools are soul scanners and sentient scanners, both of which are designed to expose robotic traits. Some events at episode 5's Sentient Social serve as robot-detection methods, such as Sisterly Soul Scan. As of episode 9, Seed No Evil, the only known robot in Ponyville is Rarity's sister Sweetie Belle, though no characters, including her, are aware that she is one. Like all robots, she is oblivious to her true nature, but clearly expresses robotic traits. At times, she gets close to beginning a rampage, and obviously has the ability to wreak havoc should she choose to. References External links * Sherclop Pones old account on YouTube * Sherclop Pones new account on YouTube *Sherclop Pones tumblrs (Jenny Nicholson's, Griffin Lewis') * SherclopPones' deviantArt page * YouTube playlist of a Celestia Radio interview with Sherclop Pones * Ask Me Anything thread on reddit Category:Fanmade videos Category:Friendship is Witchcraft